The present invention relates to an interproximal dental surface cleaning and drug delivery device that is designed to clean the interproximal dental surfaces, subgingival areas and periodontal pockets of his or her user, and subsequently allow delivery of a drug onto the same surfaces, areas and pockets to treat dental pathological problems. Such pathological problems include but are not limited to hypersensitivity, initial dental caries and periodontal inflammations.
It is known that the interproximal dental surfaces of the teeth are hard to clean because it is difficult to reach these surfaces with conventional and/or electric toothbrushes. The bristles of these brushes cannot penetrate easily from the buccal or lingual faces of the teeth under the interproximal teeth contact points, and consequently these points cannot be cleaned adequately.
When there is an adequate contact between the interproximal dental surfaces and the anatomic configuration of the subgingival area is healthy (i.e. when there is no bone retraction nor periodontal pockets), use can be made of devices like dental flosses, hydrotherapeutic instruments, interdental stimulators or tooth picks, to clean the interproximal surfaces.
However, in the presence of periodontal pockets or gum retraction, the subgingival areas cannot be properly cleaned by the above mentioned devices since they cannot penetrate in the depth of the periodontal pockets due either to a lack of rigidity (in the case of dental floss) or to difficulties encountered for reaching the depths of a periodontal pocket or reaching the bottom of the tooth surface under the marginal crests of the gingival.
The most efficient devices presently used to overcome the above situations are interproximal brushes and toothpicks, like the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,404 (Tarrson et al) issued on Sep. 8, 1987.
These devices are actually recommended for adults with large interproximal areas which can easily retain food debris and dental plaque, for those presenting gingival inflammation, and for those exhibiting early stages of periodontal diseases. They are also recommended for maintenance after periodontal surgery.
However, since it is difficult to clean adequately the tooth surfaces and areas with the above mentioned devices and since dental plaque in the presence of food debris and bacteria are known to adhere on the tooth surfaces in less than 24 hours, interproximal pathologies are frequently observed, which include dental caries, and root caries and hypersensitivity.
Dental caries are often initiated on interproximal dental surfaces since it is difficult to maintain adequate oral hygiene on these areas. The initial steps of caries correspond histopathologically to sites of demineralization which, without treatment (i.e. topical fluoride for instance), may progress to cavitation. This initial step is reversible but require restorative treatment.
Root caries occur when there is gum recession as a result of a prolonged gingival and/or malocclusion disorder such as premature teeth contacts. In such a case, the junction in between enamel and cementum is not anymore protected by the gingival crest and the exposed cementum which is more porous than enamel, can very easily develop root caries.
Hypersensitivity is another unpleasant pathology associated with dentinal and cementum hypersensitivity which may be observed after periodontal surgery. In such a case, the tooth surfaces are often suddenly exposed since they are no longer protected by a muco-gingival layer. Thus, they become very sensitive to thermic or tactile stimuli.
To tentatively overcome the above mentioned drawbacks, devices have been developed to treat dental pathologies which occur in interproximal tooth surfaces, sub-gingival areas and periodontal pockets. Typiclally, these devices for treating dental pathologies comprise a handle to which is connected a cleaning instrument provided with a scrub material. The handle is devised to act as a reservoir for a drug that can be delivered to the cleaned surfaces, areas and pockets.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,380 (Creed) issued on Sep. 5th, 1989 is illustrative of such devices. It discloses a device comprising a tubular neck that leads up from a reservoir to a rubber tip. The rubber tip has holes in its sidewall for discharging a drug between the teeth into the pockets and around the gums. The drug is expelled from the reservoir by squeezing the same. To prevent fluid in the mouth from re-entering the neck when squeezing pressure is removed, a check valve is used.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,924 (Kaminski et al.) issued Feb. 4th, 1994 discloses a dental instrument including a boss coated with a resilient open-cell polymeric foam for use in oral hygiene. This patent discloses that the foam can be impregnated with a drug in the form of a coating, solution, pasteior gel for treating germs or teeth.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,976 (Green) issued Feb. 8th, 1998 discloses a disposable fibrous dental applicator tip that is fed with a drug via a cannula. The applicator tip is specifically designed to massage the interproximal root surfaces and simultaneously deliver the drug to sources of periodontal diseases.
All of these known devices are interesting. However, they are devised to deliver the drug to the pathological sites via their cleaning sections, viz. their rubber tip, foam covered boss or applicator tip. As a result there is a permanent risk of having the drug applied to the interproximal dental surfaces, subgingival areas and periodontal pockets removed from the same when the tip or boss, are removed from between the teeth.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an interproximal dental surface cleaning and drug delivery device which can be used for cleaning and delivery of drug to the interproximal tooth surfaces, sub-gingival areas, and periodontal pockets without risk of withdrawal of the drug by the cleaning section of said device when the same is removed.
More specifically, the object of the present invention is to provide an interproximal dental surface cleaning and drug delivery device comprising:
a reservoir for storing and supplying a drug to treat pathological problems on interproximal dental surfaces, subgingival areas and periodontal pockets, the reservoir acting as a handle and comprising an outlet at one extremity; and
a needle comprising an internal channel through which the medicament may flow.
In accordance with the invention, the needle comprises:
a clipping section connected to the outlet of the reservoir in such a manner as to place the channel of the needle in open communication with the reservoir;
a cleaning section having an outer scrubbing surface sized to be inserted between teeth in order to clean interproximal dental surfaces, subgingival areas and periodontal pockets, said cleaning section having no perforation opening into the internal channel; and
an applicator section projecting from the cleaning segment opposite to the clipping section, the applicator section having a relatively smooth outer surface and comprising of a plurality of perforations allowing the drug supplied from the reservoir through the channel to be delivered to the interproximal dental surfaces, subgingival areas and periodontal pockets after their cleaning has been completed.
The invention essentially lies in that the applicator section is xe2x80x9cseparatexe2x80x9d from the cleaning section and located in a position opposite to the handle. Thus, the user may deliver the drug stored in the handle onto the areas, surfaces or pockets that have been cleaned while reducing the risk for the drug to be withdrawn by the scrubbing surface of the cleaning section when the same is removed from between the teeth. In other words, the device according to the invention allows the drug to be delivered after cleaning of the subgingival areas, interproximal dental surfaces and/or peridontal pockets to be treated while allowing the drug to be left on place for a prolonged period of time.
As aforesaid, the device according to the invention is particularly convenient for delivery of drugs on specific sites like tooth surfaces with demineralized spots or initial caries, zones of hypersensitivity, sub-gingival areas with inflammation and deep periodontal pockets. Such may be very useful for adult persons with gum recession, early periodontal diseases, large interproximal spaces or after periodontal surgery.
The invention will be better understood upon reading the following non-restrictive description of several preferred embodiments thereof, made with reference to the accompanying drawings.